Straight up. I’m burned out. I’ve been going non-stop with family, home, and work stuff for too many weeks in a row. I know that I’m burned out, when the thought of doing a routine chore, like going to the supermarket, just feels HUGE.

To recharge my energy levels, I’m giving myself permission to chill out for the rest of the week. I’m reading books, reading fun stuff on the Internet. I’m going to cook up a big pot of potato leek soup and zucchini bread this afternoon. Next week, Ian’s very limited summer programming is going to end, so I’m going to be keeping him busy with little trips to New York City and the beach until we go to Bermuda at the end of August. We’ll have fun, but everything just feels exhausting at this minute. 

So, what’s amusing me on the Internet today? 

Ian is going to love this Ghost Busters sequel. 

The best dirt on the Royal Family is now coming through The Daily Beast and Page Six.

I’m keeping an eye on the situation in Northern Ireland. 

Nice photo series in the New Yorker — A Woman’s Intimate Record of Wyoming in the Early Twentieth Century

Finally, everyone is admitting that Emily Oster was right — schools should have been the last places to close. (My position is that schools shut down at the right time, but they should have opened up again very quickly, especially for the most vulnerable kids. Now, schools should be supplementing like crazy, but they aren’t.) 

Looks like we’re going to have to wear masks in public spaces again. Masks don’t really bother me, so I don’t care. I have been occasionally putting them back on again anyway. As long as they keep schools open, I’m fine with the masks. 

Shopping: The construction is still going on here, so most of my recent purchases have been for things like outdoor plug covers. I also have been eyeing Moroccan and Turkish things on Etsy. Because we’re making homemade pasta as the Sunday treat meal, I got a cute drying rack. I found some very inexpensive purse straps on Amazon. 

Picture: We took Ian to Dorney Park — a water park — in Pennsylvania this weekend. We met up with a couple other families with autistic young adults. On the way back, we stopped in Easton, a town along the Delaware River, where we had a nice meal and cool beer. Very fun.